Merry Christmas!

It's bedtime on Christmas Eve, and my eyes are heavy and ready to close, but I cannot go to sleep without jotting down a memory I'd like to keep tucked away in my heart forever. Tim and I were trying to think of how to make the whole Santa experience seem real--don't get me wrong the kids totally believe--but we wanted to do something to make the night magical. We put the kids to bed like normal (with a little extra threatening that if they didn't stay in their beds Santa couldn't leave their gifts), and we went downstairs to wait for the pitter patter of little feet to stop. It didn't so we devised a plan that Tim would go up in the attic and prance (can you see Tim prancing? ;)) above the girls room while jingling some bells and yelling "Ho ho ho." Knowing someone would try to bolt out the door at the sound of Santa, I held the handle to the girls' room tight and listened to them jump back into bed in haste.

V was scared of the noise so I heard Mya encouraging her, "Genevieve, come up here quickly. Don't cry...it's Santa. Hurry. If you don't stop crying he can't leave our gifts. Please stop crying. Come lay with me. Shh...Genevieve. It's SANTA!!" She was squealing at that point. I opened the door and told them to be quiet so Santa could leave their presents. I crawled up on Mya's bunkbed and sat between the two girls holding them tight until V stopped crying and Mya stopped giggling. We sang Jingle Bells and Silent Night, and I kissed them goodnight again.

Tim checked on them an hour later and found them cuddled together in Genevieve's bed. I honestly believe those girls are dreaming of sugar plum fairies tonight. This morning was not my favorite Christmas Eve start, but the night has been so much better. I am grateful for my personal Santa who has a way of making every day special and magical, but especially the big days.

Please enjoy the outtakes of the pictures we took of our girls in their Christmas dresses. I love my beautiful girls a lot.